Best States for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) ranked the 50 states and *DC according to some of the major government imposed or related costs affecting investment, entrepreneurship, and business. The Small Business Survival Index ranks the states according to their public policy climates for entrepreneurship.Ranked from the Friendliest to the Least Friendly Policy Environments for Entrepreneurship

Rank State
1 South Dakota
2 Nevada
3 Wyoming
4 Florida
5 Washington
6 Texas
7 South Carolina
8 Alabama
9 Virginia
10 Colorado
11 Tennessee
12 Georgia
13 Arizona
14 Missouri
15 Utah
16 Alaska
17 Mississippi
18 Ohio
19 Michigan
20 Indiana
21 Oklahoma
22 North Dakota
23 Kentucky
24 Illinois
25 Pennsylvania
26 Wisconsin
27 Louisiana
28 New Hampshire
29 New Mexico
30 Arkansas
31 Kansas
32 Oregon
33 Montana
34 Delaware
35 Idaho
36 Nebraska
37 Connecticut
38 Maryland
39 North Carolina
40 West Virginia
41 Hawaii
42 Iowa
43 Vermont
44 Massachusetts
45 New York
46 Minnesota
47 Rhode Island
48 Maine
49 California
50 New Jersey
51 Dist. of Columbia

* (Please note that the District of Columbia was not included in the studies on the states’ liability systems, eminent domain legislation and highway cost efficiency, so D.C.’s last place score actually should be even worse.)

Federation of Tax Administrators
Paid Family Leave

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The Fastest Growing Business in America

Entrepreneur Magazine lists The Hot 100 ranking the fastest growing business in America and allows you to sort the list by rank, sales or industry. From nearly 21 million U.S. businesses they selected the ones which met the following criteria:

* Must have been founded no earlier than 1999 and no later than 2003
* Company sales in 2003 must be $100,000 or greater; 2007 sales must not exceed $1 billion
*Must have positive job growth between 2003 and 2007
*Must have a minimum level of sales growth or a sales growth quantifier of 1 or higher between 2003 and 2007; the growth quantifier is a measurement that combines percentage and absolute growth.

64,000 businesses of the 21 million businesses met the above criteria. To be eligible, the founder must be actively involved in the company, the company cannot be a spinoff or a division of a larger company, and company sales for 2007 must be at least $1 million.

Here are the top 10:

1. Simply Self Storage - this company offers to do self storage on the customers' terms.

2. Blue Star Energy Services - the fastest-growing electricity supplier in the nation helps by reducing energy consumption, maximizing customer savings, and helping businesses and residences improve the environment.

3. Bills.com - this company seeks to translate the world of personal finance and help customers save as much money as possible--all online.

4. HemCon Medical Technologies Inc. - as part of the medical device industry HemCom continues to advance the standard of tech-driven medical care in an effort to save more lives.

5. Global Water Resources - this company reclaims and reuses water going down house drains and making it useful again for other purposes. And it's ready to irrigate their water conservation ideals throughout the world.

6. mX Energy - By using a fixed rate plan, this company supplies electricity and natural gas to customers without any seasonal variation in costs, and instead a predictable and manageable budget for its customers.

7. Health Trans LLC - Administrating pharmacy benefits programs, more efficiently.

8. Litle & Co. - Online payment processing company

9. Deep Marine Technology - wide-ranging subsea services for the offshore oil and gas industries.

10. SGIS - provides high-impact and agile solutions for government contracting, IT and professional services.

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USA Slips off the Top 10 Rankings For Entrepreneurial Access to Capital

The Top 25 Countries:

The Capital Access Index ranks countries around the world by the type of financial infrastructures that support entrepreneurial activity by providing access to capital.

The index looks at macroeconomic environments, financial and banking institutions, the development of the equity and bond markets, and alternative capital sources.

Because access to capital creates an atmosphere where making innovative ideas come to fruition more likely, and in addition, the likelihood of technological advancement, job creation, and an increased quality of life, the index is a good tool for measuring how countries can improve their financial infrastructure.

The United States, which dropped from fourth to fifth last year, slipped off the top 10 rankings completely in the 2007 index, to 11th place. This was due to a weaker macroeconomic environment, including higher and more volatile interest rates and higher inflation, compared to the other top 10 countries.

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